


The Sacrifice Play

by Politzania



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: But Still Kinda Angsty, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22289995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Politzania/pseuds/Politzania
Summary: Whatever it takes.That was what they had promised each other and Tony had meant it.Tony Stark Bingo - Amnesia square
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	The Sacrifice Play

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Sacrifice Play  
> Collaborator: PoliZ  
> Card Number: 3012  
> Square Number and Prompt: R2 - Amnesia  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Pepper/Tony  
> Rating: General  
> Major Tags: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark Lives, Still Angsty  
> Summary: _Whatever it takes._ That was what they had promised each other and Tony had meant it.

_Whatever it takes._ That was what they had promised each other and Tony had meant it. He was willing to sacrifice everything to make sure his family, his friends, and everyone else would be safe from Thanos. As the battle still raged around him, Tony saw one last chance. 

The power of the stones coursed through him; despite being wracked with agony, Tony lifted his gauntleted hand. “And I ... am Iron Man”

 ***snap***

Tony swam slowly back to consciousness. The beeps of medical equipment surrounded him, as did the acrid, antiseptic scent of a hospital. Something terrible had happened. He remembered fear and chaos, an surprise attack. People dying all around him. 

There was something covering part of his face, bandages, maybe. His entire right side hurt from scalp to somewhere around his hip, but the arm itself was oddly numb. He shifted slightly, the small effort taking nearly all his energy. 

“Tony? You awake?” He knew that voice; it was his oldest, dearest friend. 

Tony struggled to open his eyes as Rhodey laid a hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy, Tones. You’ve been through a lot.” Through his blurred vision, Tony could barely make out Rhodey’s features. He looked older, somehow. A lot older.

“How long was I out?” Tony rasped.

“A while,” Rhodey replied evasively. “How do you feel?” 

“Like I got blown up. How about you? You okay?” The signs of worry and concern were clear on Rhodey’s face, etching lines Tony would have sworn weren’t there before.

“All things considered, yeah. Let me go get Pepper.” 

Tony started to ask what she was doing here -- even if he wasn’t quite sure where ‘here’ was -- but the sight of the braces on Rhodey’s legs made him catch his breath. Something wasn’t right; if Rhodey had been injured badly enough in the ambush to need something like that, Tony had been out for longer than a day or two.

“Tony!” Pepper Potts rushed to his bedside, leaned down and kissed him. Kissed him like it was something she did every day, like she had done so a thousand times before. A part of him knew it was right, that she belonged here with him, but otherwise he was taken completely aback. 

“I know you’re my personal assistant and all, but don’t you think that was a bit too personal, Miss Potts?” 

Her eyes went wide with shock. “Tony? What’s going on?” 

“You tell me. I’m the one who apparently just woke up from some sort of coma. What day is it?” 

“October 23rd,” Rhodey said slowly. 

Tony swallowed thickly - nearly eight months gone in what felt like an instant. But that still didn’t explain Pepper’s kiss, or how she and Rhodey both looked so much older. As he struggled to push himself up, Tony realized to his horror that his thickly bandaged right arm was missing something important: his hand was missing. “What happened?” 

“You saved the world,” Pepper replied, a teary smile on her face. 

“What, with the Jericho demonstration? It’s good, but not that good. Rhodey, you were there. What the hell happened?” Tony asked insistently. 

A confused look crossed Rhodey’s face. “Hold on. What’s the last thing you remember?” 

But before he could answer, a phalanx of white coats swept into the room and poked and prodded Tony unmercifully for what felt like an hour and a half, but was probably only about fifteen minutes. He wanted to ask them about his arm, but was afraid of what they might say; he let them talk over him instead, answering any questions they put to him as best he could. 

The doctors left as quickly as they arrived, and Tony sank exhaustedly back into the pillows. “Daddy?” a small voice called out. His eyes flew open to see a little girl standing in the doorway, with Happy (also looking inexplicably older) right behind her. 

“Sorry, guys,” Happy apologized. “Morgan threatened to, and I quote, _‘throw the biggest temper tantrum ever’_ unless I brought her here.” 

Struck dumb, Tony looked the kid over as she approached the bed, a piece of paper clutched tightly in one hand. “Uncle Happy said you got hurt real bad,” she intoned solemnly, “and I wouldn’t be able to hug you to make you feel better right now.” She sniffled slightly, and Tony noticed her big brown eyes were rimmed in red. “So I drew you a picture instead.” 

She held up the paper to show three figures, holding hands inside a heart. One of the taller figures was colored red, and the other was purple, with blue streaks coming out of their feet and their free hand, The third, smaller figure in the middle was clearly Morgan, as the colors matched the outfit she was wearing and they both had dark, unruly hair. “You and Mommy are taking me flying. You said maybe we could try it sometime soon.” 

Tony had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn’t matter. “It looks great. Thank you.” While she was clearly his kid - the hair and eyes were a dead giveaway - he wondered how she’d come to be. Despite his playboy reputation, he’d always insisted on protection before getting intimate to avoid any possible paternity claims. And yet here this precious little girl was. 

Tony glanced over to Pepper, who had one hand up to her mouth, as if to hold back a sob. She took a deep breath, then said, “C’mere, honey. Daddy needs to rest.” 

He glanced back at Morgan, and saw a tell-tale dusting of freckles across her cheeks. Oh. Well, that explained the kiss, he supposed. 

As soon as the door closed behind Pepper and Morgan, Tony turned to face Rhodey who wore a somber expression. “Okay, platypus. Tell me what the hell I’m missing here.” 

“As best I can tell, Tones? About fifteen years’ worth of memories.”

**Author's Note:**

> Epilogue: 
> 
> Happy, Pepper and Rhodey decided to keep Tony’s memory loss under wraps; Rhodey reaches out to Bruce for help. Tony has a tough time believing that this jolly green giant is the Doctor Banner he’s read so much about, but goes along with it. Bruce in turn contacts Stephen Strange, who works to free Tony’s memories from the stones before Steve (And when the hell was someone going to tell Tony Captain America had been found and defrosted?) takes them back to their proper places and times.


End file.
